Wife, kids of Hall County deputy among 5 killed in fiery crash with Corvette, SUV on Ga. highway

HABERSHAM COUNTY, Ga. — Five people, including the wife and two young children of a Hall County deputy, are dead after a fiery crash on a busy north Georgia highway.

The crash happened around 3:30 p.m. Sunday on Ga. 365 in Habersham County.

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Georgia State Patrol says a man and his passenger were in a Corvette driving southbound in the right lane.

A driver in a Ford Explorer, identified as 29-year-old Avonlea Holtzclaw, was trying to cross the southbound side and turned onto Mt. Zion Road.

Investigators said the Corvette hit Holtzclaw’s SUV on the right side. The impact caused both vehicles to crash and catch on fire.

The Hall County Sheriff’s Office has confirmed that three of the victims, Holtzclaw and the two children in her car, were the wife and kids of Hall County Deputy Patrick Neil Holtzclaw. Two people in the Corvette were also killed.

Friends and family identified the children as Maddie Cate and Colt, who were five and six years old.

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Sheriff Gerald Couch has pledged to support Deputy Holtzclaw in the coming days, weeks and months.

“What can you say when someone loses his entire family? There are no words that can adequately express the heartbreak the Holtzclaw family is experiencing right now, but clearly our entire agency is devastated for them,” said Sheriff Gerald Couch. “We appreciate the many law enforcement agencies that have reached out asking how they can help. If I know our community, they will want to offer support, too. For now, we ask that you remember Deputy Holtzclaw in your prayers and give him time to grieve privately.”

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